Zenkei Blanche Hartman

Zenkei Blanche Hartman (1926–2016) was a Soto Zen teacher in the lineage of Suzuki Roshi and a revered elder figure in American Zen. She spent two terms as abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center and was in fact the first woman abbot of a Zen center in America. She’s an expert in rakusu-sewing (those bib-like things you see Zen Practitioners wear that represent the Buddha’s robe), and she's been particularly known for her attention to women’s issues in Buddhism and Zen.